The Strange History of the Fourth of July: Presidents, Disasters, and Famous Birthdays

0:00 Speaker 1: Dear listener. The fourth of July is marketed as a clean, red, white,

0:04 Speaker 1: and blue celebration of independence. Fireworks go up, burgers go down,

0:10 Speaker 1: and everyone pretends they understand how Roman candles work. But

0:15 Speaker 1: historically this day has been less perfect celebration and more

0:20 Speaker 1: ongoing experiment, involving explosives, heat, and extremely committed symbolism. And

0:27 Speaker 1: once you start looking at the actual records, the dates,

0:31 Speaker 1: the deaths, the disasters, and yes, the birthdays, you start

0:36 Speaker 1: to realize something. July fourth doesn't just celebrate history, it

0:42 Speaker 1: keeps accidentally making it. Let's start with the most precise

0:45 Speaker 1: and frankly unsettling coincidence on record. On July fourth, eighteen

0:50 Speaker 1: twenty six, exactly fifty years after the Declaration of Independence,

0:55 Speaker 1: two of the most important figures behind that document died

0:59 Speaker 1: on the sale day. Thomas Jefferson passed away at Monticello

1:03 Speaker 1: around twelve to fifty pm, and just hours later, John

1:08 Speaker 1: Adams died in Massachusetts at approximately six twenty pm. Adams's

1:13 Speaker 1: final recorded words referenced Jefferson, saying, Thomas Jefferson survives, unaware

1:19 Speaker 1: that Jefferson had already died earlier that afternoon. This wasn't folklore.

1:24 Speaker 1: It was documented, printed, and widely discussed at the time

1:29 Speaker 1: because people immediately recognized how specific and strange it was.

1:34 Speaker 1: Two former presidents, same day, same anniversary, fifty years to

1:40 Speaker 1: the date. Then, as if history decided to double down

1:44 Speaker 1: instead of backing off. On July fourth, eighteen thirty one,

1:48 Speaker 1: James Monroe, another founding father and former president, also died.

1:53 Speaker 1: That makes three presidents, all tied to the Early Republic,

1:57 Speaker 1: all dying on the same calendar date within five years

2:00 Speaker 1: of each other. Statistically rare, historically undeniable, slightly uncomfortable if

2:06 Speaker 1: you're the fourth president thinking about your calendar now. While

2:10 Speaker 1: the founding fathers were apparently keeping very tight scheduling commitments,

2:14 Speaker 1: the rest of the country was celebrating in ways that

2:17 Speaker 1: can best be described as enthusiastic. In seventeen seventy seven,

2:22 Speaker 1: the first anniversary of Independence was celebrated in Philadelphia with fireworks,

2:27 Speaker 1: cannon fire, and public gatherings. Contemporary newspaper accounts describe rockets

2:33 Speaker 1: being launched and explosives being set off in honor of

2:36 Speaker 1: the occasion. What those reports do not describe in detail,

2:40 Speaker 1: but we can safely infer, is any kind of modern

2:43 Speaker 1: safety standard. These were early fireworks, often handmade or imported,

2:49 Speaker 1: and they had a tendency to do whatever they wanted,

2:52 Speaker 1: which is still true today, but now we at least

2:55 Speaker 1: pretend we're in control. By the eighteen hundreds, the pattern

3:00 Speaker 1: became measurable. Fire departments in major cities began reporting spikes

3:05 Speaker 1: and fires on July fourth. Wooden buildings, dry summer conditions,

3:10 Speaker 1: and open flames created a perfect environment for accidental blazes.

3:15 Speaker 1: Entire neighborhoods could be damaged or destroyed from a single

3:19 Speaker 1: misfired firework. And yet every year people looked at this

3:23 Speaker 1: track record and said, yes, but this time will be careful.

3:29 Speaker 1: Spoiler they were not. By the early nineteen hundreds, things

3:34 Speaker 1: had escalated to the point where actual data started getting involved.

3:39 Speaker 1: The American Medical Association began tracking July fourth injuries in

3:44 Speaker 1: nineteen o three and found thousands of cases annually, burns,

3:49 Speaker 1: lost fingers, eye injuries, and infections. Tetanus was so common

3:55 Speaker 1: from these injuries that it earned the nickname Fourth of

3:58 Speaker 1: July disease, which is not the kind of branding any holiday. Once.

4:03 Speaker 1: This led to the Safe and Sane Fourth movement around

4:06 Speaker 1: nineteen oh eight, where cities began restricting fireworks and pushing

4:11 Speaker 1: for organized displays instead of backyard chaos. Essentially, the government

4:16 Speaker 1: stepped in and said, what if we celebrated freedom but

4:20 Speaker 1: with fewer explosions near your face. Now, while all of

4:25 Speaker 1: this was happening fires, injuries, presidential coincidences, July fourth was

4:31 Speaker 1: also quietly becoming one of the most on brand birthday

4:34 Speaker 1: dates in history. For example, Calvin Coolidge, the thirtieth President

4:40 Speaker 1: of the United States, was born on July fourth, eighteen

4:43 Speaker 1: seventy two, which feels almost too perfect. A future president

4:49 Speaker 1: born on Independence Day, as if the country itself was like,

4:53 Speaker 1: we'll need another one eventually, let's schedule it now, and

4:57 Speaker 1: it doesn't stop there. Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author of the

5:01 Speaker 1: Scarlet Letter, was also born on July fourth in eighteen

5:05 Speaker 1: o four, So while the country was still figuring itself out,

5:09 Speaker 1: one of its most influential literary voices arrived on the

5:12 Speaker 1: same date. Because apparently symbolism wasn't already working overtime, then

5:17 Speaker 1: you have Malia Obama, born on July fourth, nineteen ninety eight,

5:22 Speaker 1: bringing the tradition into the modern era. Because even now,

5:25 Speaker 1: the date continues to produce people tied directly or indirectly

5:29 Speaker 1: to American cultural and political life, and just to round

5:33 Speaker 1: it out, post Malone was born on July fourth, nineteen

5:37 Speaker 1: ninety five, which means somewhere, fireworks are going off, a

5:42 Speaker 1: bald eagle is soaring majestically, and sunflower is playing in

5:46 Speaker 1: the background, whether you planned it or not, back on

5:49 Speaker 1: the ground, sometimes literally, Fourth of July celebrations continued evolving,

5:55 Speaker 1: often in response to things going slightly off the rails.

5:58 Speaker 1: In nineteen twelve, during a major heat wave, temperatures exceeded

6:02 Speaker 1: one hundred degrees fahrenheit across large parts of the country

6:06 Speaker 1: during Independence Day celebrations. Combined with fireworks and large crowds,

6:11 Speaker 1: this led to a surge in heat related illnesses and injuries.

6:15 Speaker 1: Hospitals reported increased admissions, and newspapers documented the dangers of

6:20 Speaker 1: combining extreme weather with explosive celebrations. It turns out that

6:25 Speaker 1: lighting fireworks while standing on what feels like the surface

6:29 Speaker 1: of the sun is not a winning strategy. By the

6:32 Speaker 1: mid twentieth century, organized events began replacing individual displays in

6:37 Speaker 1: many cities, but new traditions emerged, some equally strange. At

6:43 Speaker 1: Coney Island. The Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contests became an

6:47 Speaker 1: annual Fourth of July event starting in nineteen sixteen. What

6:51 Speaker 1: began as a promotional stunt turned into a competitive spectacle,

6:55 Speaker 1: eventually gaining international attention. Because if there's one thing that

7:00 Speaker 1: pairs naturally with fireworks, its watching someone consume an alarming

7:05 Speaker 1: number of hot dogs in under ten minutes while questioning

7:08 Speaker 1: their life choices in real time. Fireworks themselves also became bigger, louder,

7:14 Speaker 1: and more complex, especially during the late twentieth century. Cities

7:19 Speaker 1: began competing for the largest displays, leading to increasingly elaborate

7:24 Speaker 1: shows and occasional malfunctions. Premature detonations, misfires, and technical failures

7:31 Speaker 1: were documented, reminding everyone that even highly planned celebrations still

7:36 Speaker 1: carry an element of unpredictability, and sometimes that unpredictability had

7:42 Speaker 1: nothing to do with the fireworks themselves. In two thousand

7:45 Speaker 1: and two, a fireworks display near an airport caused temporary

7:49 Speaker 1: concern due to heightened security awareness following the September eleventh attacks.

7:54 Speaker 1: The sounds and visuals of fireworks were briefly misinterpreted, prompting

7:58 Speaker 1: a rapid response. No threat was present, but the incident

8:03 Speaker 1: demonstrated how quickly context can change the meaning of something

8:06 Speaker 1: as familiar as a fireworks show. Then there's the issue

8:10 Speaker 1: of celebratory gunfire, a practice that persisted in some areas

8:15 Speaker 1: for decades. Law enforcement and medical reports confirmed that bullets

8:20 Speaker 1: fired into the air during celebrations could and did cause

8:24 Speaker 1: injuries when they returned to the ground. Public safety campaigns

8:28 Speaker 1: and legal restrictions were eventually implemented, reinforcing a key lesson

8:33 Speaker 1: gravity is undefeated, even on national holidays. So when you

8:38 Speaker 1: step back and look at the full picture, the fourth

8:41 Speaker 1: of July becomes something more than just a celebration. It's

8:45 Speaker 1: a date marked by specific, repeated and well documented events,

8:50 Speaker 1: presidential deaths, large scale accidents, policy changes, and a surprisingly

8:56 Speaker 1: patriotic lineup of birthdays. And now a quick word from

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9:33 Speaker 2: the battle, and the other half is standing a safe

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9:37 Speaker 1: So this year, as the sky lights up and the

9:40 Speaker 1: grills fire up, remember you're not just participating in a tradition.

9:45 Speaker 1: You're stepping into a date that has time and time

9:48 Speaker 1: again produced events that are unusually precise, occasionally chaotic, and

9:53 Speaker 1: historically significant in ways most holidays never quite manage until

9:58 Speaker 1: next time. This is the Strange History podcast Stay Curious.

10:03 Speaker 1: Friends had.

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